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LAWS OF THE GAME - CONTINUED

This month we continue to examine the 17 fundamental laws of the game that form the foundation of all refereeing. We will look at rules 5 through 8.


LAW 5 – The Referee
Refereeing can be an enjoyable experience but it is also a responsible job with demanding duties. Most significantly, it is the referee’s job to enforce the Laws of the Game. Below is a list of the main powers and duties of the referee.
· Controls the match in co-operation with the assistant referees and, where applicable, with the fourth official.

· Acts as timekeeper and keeps a record of the match.

· Stops, suspends or terminates the match, at his discretion, for any infringements of the Laws.

· Stops, suspends or terminates the match because of outside interference of any kind.

· Stops the match if, in his opinion, a player is seriously injured and ensures that they are removed from the field of play.

· Allows play to continue until the ball is out of play if a player is, in his opinion, only slightly injured.

· Ensures that any player bleeding from a wound leaves the field of play. The player may only return on receiving a signal from the referee, who must be satisfied that the bleeding has stopped.

· Allows play to continue when the team against which an offence has been committed will benefit from such an advantage and penalizes the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time.

· Punishes the more serious offence when a player commits more than one offence at the same time.

· Takes disciplinary action against players guilty of cautionable and sending–off offences. He is not obliged to take this action immediately but must do so when the ball next goes out of play.

· Takes action against team officials who fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and may at his discretion, expel them from the field of play and its immediate surrounds.

· Acts on the advice of assistant referees regarding incidents which he has not seen.

· Ensures that no unauthorized persons enter the field of play.

· Restarts the match after it has been stopped.

· Provides the appropriate authorities with a match report which includes information on any disciplinary action taken against players, and/or team officials and any other incidents which occurred before, during or after the match.

Referees don’t have the benefit of slow-motion replays to review their decisions but if a mistake has been made the referee can change the decision, as long as play has not restarted. He can also get advice from the assistant referee in this respect. The referee may decide that although an offence has been committed it would be worth allowing play to continue if the side offended against could gain an advantage. Remember, if the team doesn’t gain the anticipated advantage immediately, the referee can still award the original free. Kick. The most important thing to note is the referee’s decision is final.

LAW 6 – The Assistant Referee
Referees will often be helped by people running the line (assistant referees). In the referee’s early matches it is quite likely that these assistant will be club officials, or even substitutes waiting for their turn to play.

Assistants have specific duties, according to their qualifications and experience and it is important to remember that assistant referees never make a decision. They signal to the referee to indicate they want to draw his attention to something they may be in a better position to see. However, the final decision is the referee’s whether the assistant is a club official or a neutral assistant.

The main duties of an assistant referee are to indicate to the referee the circumstances below.

· When the whole of the ball has passed out of the field of play.

· Which side is entitled to a corner kick, goal kick or throw-in.

· When a player may be penalized for being in an offside position.

· When a substitution is requested.

· When misconduct or any other incident has occurred out of the view of the referee.

· When offences have been committed whenever the assistants are closer to the action than the referee (this includes, in particular circumstances, offences committed in the penalty area).

· Whether, at penalty kicks, the goalkeeper has moved forward before the ball has been kicked and if the ball has crossed the line.

LAW 7 – The Duration of the Match
A match normally consists of two equal periods of 45 minutes with an interval of up to 15 minutes. Competition rules may allow some modification of these arrangements but any agreement to alter the periods of play must be made before the start of the match and must comply with competition rules. Players are entitled to an interval at half-time.

Commentators often speak of time added on at the end of each half. This is because the referee will need to allow for time lost through a number of events, including assessment of injury to players, removal of injured players from the field of play for treatment, substitutions and wasting time. In some competitions extra time is allowed to produce a result, thereby avoiding the need for a replay. It must be remembered that the allowance for any time lost is always at the discretion of the referee.

LAW 8 – The Start and Restart of Play
The referee should try to make a good impression at the start of play. Self-confidence impresses the two teams and lets them feel that they are privileged to have such a confident and self-assured referee.

Before the game can start, a coin must be tossed. The team that wins the toss decides which goal it will attach in the first half of the match and takes the kick-off to start the second half of the match; the team that loses takes the kick-off at the beginning of the game. It must be remembered that at half-time the teams change ends and attack opposite goals.

After such preliminaries, the game ‘kicks off’. This is a way of starting or re-starting play either at the start of the match, after a goal has been scored, at the start of the second half or at the start of each period of extra time.

The kicker who takes the kick-off must not touch the ball a second time until it has touched another player. At all times and in all situations in which a kick-off can take place, the referee must be in complete control. A kick-off can only happen if the referee has signaled for it.

If this law is infringed the kick-off is retaken, except if the kicker touches the ball a second time before it has touched another player; in this case, the referee must award an indirect free kick to the opposing team.

When the referee has had to stop the game without an infringement being committed, for example if the ball becomes unplayable, he will drop the ball. The Law describes the correct procedure, although in practice, in order to see fair play, agreement between the teams often allows for one team to return the ball to the team that was disadvantaged by the stoppage.

The correct procedure for a dropped ball is as follows: the referee should drop the ball at the place where it was located when the play was stopped. Play restarts when the ball touches the ground.

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